


A sleeping proposal

by Octopod



Category: Pillars of Eternity
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-18
Updated: 2018-09-18
Packaged: 2019-07-13 21:56:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 948
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16026770
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Octopod/pseuds/Octopod
Summary: In which Edér decides to do something about the Watcher's sleeping problems.





	A sleeping proposal

After a long day’s travel they finally set up camp. Wood had to be collected, a meal to be made, and somebody had to keep watch during the night.  
“I’ll keep watch again,” Dominique said while she spread out her sleeping roll. When her statement was met with silence, she looked up at her companions. Aloth and Edér were exchanging looks, Hiravias was frowning at her, and Sagani had put her hands on her thighs, chewing her tongue.  
“I think it’s better if you skipped watch this time, Watcher,” Sagani said, carefully.  
Dominique folded her arms, eyeing each of them. “I’m perfectly capable of staying alert at night, despite of my lack of sleep, thank you very much,” she said defensively.  
“I’m not questioning that, Watcher. I’m—“ Sagani let out a long sigh before she continued. “I’m questioning the lack of effort you put in trying to sleep at all. You’ve been keeping watch for three nights in a row now.”  
“You’d make us feel better if you tried to get a little more sleep tonight, Dominique,” Aloth added, fidgeting with the clasps of his grimoire.  
“But I don’t want—“ Dominique stopped mid-sentence when she heard how childish she sounded. Dammit. She had a good reason for not wanting to sleep. It were not just the dreams, the ones that her companions woke her from when she started thrashing too wildly. It were the whispers. Whispers that pleaded, mocked, and laughed. Whispers that became louder and more threatening as the night deepened. She had not told the others about this yet; it’s not like they needed any _more_ concerns about her than they already had.  
“Alright,” she conceded. “I’ll just make us a meal for tonight, then.”  
The relief on everyone’s faces was clearly visible. 

During the bustle that followed of setting up camp, Dominque eventually found herself sitting near a freshly-made campfire, restlessly pricking the potatoes she was supposed to peel for the stew. In her mind she revisited memories of the Inquisitor, going through them over and over again in seemingly endless circles. In a rare moment of privacy, only Edér sat with her, as the others were out hunting for meat and collecting water. Edér was apparently as lost in thought as she was, for they had been sitting in silence for some time now. She had gotten quite fond of him after months of traveling together, and she felt comfortable with the quietude. That is, until he asked her that singular question.  
“Want me to sleep with you tonight?”  
Dominique — not sure whether she heard correctly — resurfaced from her thoughts and slowly looked up at the Dyrwoodan sitting opposite of her. He was lighting his pipe, using his right hand to shield the small flame from the breeze, while taking a few strong inhales to get the tobacco burning properly. His movements were rhythmic, used as they were to the routine. It was only after he finished that he looked up to see her response.  
“What?” Was all she managed to say.  
“You know,” he said. “I’ll just put my sleeping roll against yours, so you can lie close when you feel like it.” He breathed out a long fume of smoke while he regarded her, mixing the smell of burned wood with the earthy smell of Whiteleaf. “Maybe it’ll make sleeping easier for you.”  
Dominique could not tell whether he was joking or not. She raised an eyebrow. “You think that breathing down my neck at night will make sleeping easier for me?”  
Edér seemed to have expected a response like this, for he did not flinch for an instant. “I’ll probably _snore_ down your neck. But, yeah.”  
They both looked at each other. One of them noticed the hesitant crackling of the fire, and the other noticed the whispers, quietly laughing in the dark.  
“Are you actually serious about this?” she asked him wearily.  
“When have I ever not been serious?”  
Seeing that his feigned indignation finally made her smile a little, he grinned. “Just think it over, alright? No hard feelings if you decide my proposal is too crazy.”  
Seeing her hesitation, he removed the pipe from his mouth and leaned forward, all jest gone from his face. “Look. Just know that… whatever stuff it is you are dealing with at night, you don’t need to face it alone.”  
Dominique looked away and stared at the ground, where leftover leaves hopped from place to place on the wind. A few moments passed in which they both said nothing. A barn owl called in the distance, accompanying the clicks of the crickets and the crackling of the fire. Dominique found that a warm glow had settled inside her, and she wasn’t quite sure whether it was from the flames, or from Edér.  
When he would wake her from her nightmares during his watch, they would often talk quietly for a while, sitting close to each other while the others slept. He would tell her of his brother and their adventures together, and she would tell him about her parents, and how she would cause more mischief than both Edér and Woden combined — which Edér always found hard to believe. Dominique savored these moments, and she knew that she secretly wanted him to stay with her during those nights, until the morning came.  
She looked back at him again, then, and saw that he had returned his gaze to the fire. She watched how the orange glow reflected in his eyes. Watched as he took another inhale from his pipe and slowly, gently, breathed out.  
Her voice was soft when she responded, but he smiled as he registered her words. “I’d like that.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! :) This is the first time I ever wrote a scene like this, so if you have any feedback or criticism on the writing or flow of the story, I'd be very interested to hear it!


End file.
